Page 27 of Home for the Holidays

“Hey, don’t fucking take this out on me. Whatever it is.”Although it could very well be my fault.

He leaned forward and harshly raked his fingers through his hair, breathing erratically. “So, my mom, in a total ‘Heidi trying to be the cool mom’ move, invited one of my old friends over to, y’know, spend the holiday here.”

Iris let out a laugh. Wow. Not what she had expected him to say. Definitely a far cry from thinking she’d been outed as the jerk who fucked his mom in a bakery bathroom. “Like, your mom is trying to hook you up with someone?”

He glanced back at her. “No? Not exactly. At least I don’t think so.”

“Well, by all means, do you need me to leave and make room for the little lady?” Iris stood and eagerly motioned to her bags. “I can be out of here as soon as the roads are cleared. I can summon a great breakup scene.” She cleared her throat and struck a dramatic pose in anticipation.

He was on his feet in an instant. “Stop! No, that’s not what I want. And…” He breathed in through clenched teeth. “It’s not a girl.”

“Oh?” Within an instant, Zac had Iris’s full attention.

“It’s my best guy friend from high school. His name is Evan. We had a falling-out years and years ago.”

“And what was the falling-out about?”

“You’re never going to believe this one,” he said as he threw his hands in the air.

“Try me.”

“He kissed me, and instead of being cool because it was exactly what I wanted to happen, I freaked out.”

Iris let the silence settle before she folded her arms across her chest and said, “I’d love to say I’m beside myself with shock, but given the fact that you’re talking to yourfake girlfriend, I think it’s safe to say that isn’t shocking at all.”

“Thank you for your support.” Zac groaned. “I wrote him a letter about how I wasn’t into that and that I didn’t think we should be friends anymore.”

“Wow. Smooth move.”

“Yeah, well, now my mom said she saw him in the grocery store and didn’t think I was serious about bringing a friend home, so she invited him over. Said she thinks it’s time we reconnect.”

“It sounds like maybe your mom already knows that you’re gay,” Iris observed. “Why else would she invite aguyover? And not just any guy.Theguy that you were obviously smitten with.”

“I don’t know. I think we can both agree this has been the weirdest day, and it’s only noon.”

She held back hertell me the fuck about it. Now wasn’t the time to emphatically agree. “When does he arrive?”

“He’ll be here around two.” His shoulders fell. “I’m sorry.”

“Why would you be sorry? This is great. It’ll give us a good reason to break up publicly.”

Zac’s laughter was adorable as he leaned into Iris’s shoulder. “I am ready to go home.”

“Don’t forget that I’m keeping track of everything you owe me.” Iris made sure her facial expression meant business. “The list is going to be extensive.” She sat on the edge of his bed, wrestling with whether or not she should tell him what his brothers had said or just let it go. “Funny thing happened while you were chatting with your mom.”

“What’s that?” He sat, then fell backward onto the bed. “Did my brothers give you some embarrassing information about me?”

“Um, not exactly.” She licked her lips. “They said you talk to your momdaily. And that you have a great relationship with her.”

“I donottalk to her daily.” He scoffed. “And, I mean, my relationship with her isn’t bad. I’m not honest with her, though. Doesn’t that seem like maybe not the best relationship if I can’t even be honest with her?”

Iris glanced over her shoulder at him. “I guess.” She gathered some of her courage. “If you talk to your mom all the time, why don’t you just tell her the truth?”

He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know, Iris. I’m so afraid of disappointing her.”

“She’s not disappointed with Adrien. Why do you think she’ll be disappointed with you?” Iris stood. She needed to pace. She wasn’t sure why, but sitting still was making her anxiety skyrocket. All that made sense wasacross the room and back, across the room and back. “You realize it’s never easy to come out to family, right? Like, it’s not a cakewalk. You’re going to struggle. But that doesn’t mean you get to lie for the rest of your life and drag your best friend through your family drama.” She was so eager for him to come out because,fuck, it’d make everything easier onher. And that reason was so not okay. She was for sure a horrible person. And she saw the realization flash across his face.

“Whoa.” His face fell, his eyes wide as he stared at her. “Why did you come if this is how you feel?”

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